"Her performance last night was designed to irritate you," Wendell mumbled.
"She wants the crown?" Cosmo asked.
"I don't know. Maybe. She likes being better at the Hunger than me."
"She's not better. That was a highly unoriginal display. The one in the hall was worse, and I had a direct view," Thao said.
I opened my mouth to ask and then thought better of it. "I think…I think I should be prepared for anything."
"Your grandmother still doubts you have the Hunger, doesn't she?" Wendell asked, and I nodded. "Do we need to prove it to her?"
I blew out a long breath between pursed lips and then wiggled my way up into sitting, digging my fingers through tangled strands, until Cosmo sat up too and started to comb gently through them, making me sigh. "I've been trying to sort through that. I don't object to being open with my affection and interest for you all. And we haven't really tried to hide our activities around the palace. But if my grandmother wants me to be Camellia, I never will manage to satisfy her. I desire you all, I crave you, I plan on satisfying us all but—"
"But your priorities are to your kingdom and people, just as they should be," Thao growled, rolling his face into the pillow, the sheet on his back slipping down to reveal his perfectly rounded ass. Wendell's hand found mine and Cosmo's chin rested on my shoulder, all three of us taking a moment to admire the perfection. "Stop it," Thao said, laugh muffled.
"The only thing you need to prove to your grandmother is that you do serve Kimmery, exactly as you are," Cosmo murmured, kissing my earlobe and making me shiver. "I'm not sure that requires a live demonstration, but…"
"But if it does, you consent?" I asked, laughing and craning my neck to make room for him to cover it in nipping kisses.
"If I might be excused, I have some objection to letting the old crone watch me," Thao said, turning again and exhaling, Wendell taking care of brushing his silky hair back. "Wendell is very pretty to watch though."
Wendell laughed and grinned at me with a shrug. "For Kimmery, I suppose I might be pressed upon," he said, leaning in and brushing his mouth against mine.
I accepted the kiss and then started to make my way out of the bed, my nightgown tangling around my knees as I crawled out.
"That's transparent, you know. I don't know why you bother," Thao called.
"Because it makes her feel nice," Cosmo answered for me. "And because it feels good when we lick her through the lace on her breasts."
I tried to glare at him, but all I managed was getting a good look at them piled together, Wendell's washed out beauty nestled between their warmed earth tones. I could always just stay in bed with them and make Grandmother come to find me, my thoughts suggested helpfully. It wasn't a bad idea, but I shrugged it off.
"Has anyone seen where Farraque got off to? He vanished after we arrived back at the palace, and I haven't seen him since."
"Missing him?" Thao asked, dry and sarcastic, leaning heavily into Wendell's side, his hand sliding under the covers in Cosmo's direction. In the back of my head, I wondered what it would mean for Wendell and Thao to include Cosmo in their sex, and if it was something I needed to worry about. It would have to wait for the moment. They were all grown men, and for all I knew, it'd already been discussed.
"No, but considering how he likes to be underfoot, I'm feeling a little suspicious," I said.
"I have a theory," Wendell offered, glancing between a smirking Thao and a panting Cosmo, a soft smile on his lips. "I think he's avoiding your sister. He's unmarried and you're not claiming him. If she sets her eye on him, she may end up Choosing him, and then his role for the council is spoiled."
"We should, mmph, we should set them up," Cosmo said, grunting and falling back into the pillows, revealing the bounce of the sheets over his lap.
"I feel like I'm being set up," I said, wetting my lips and watching Cosmo start to squirm.
"Do you know how to suck cock?" Thao asked me, Wendell throwing back the sheets to reveal Thao's fist around Cosmo's dark length, Cosmo's hips doing the work of thrusting.
"I have a little instruction," I murmured, my feet drawing me back to the bed, eyes on the liquid seeping at the end of Cosmo's cock.
"There you are," Grandmother snapped as I appeared in the doorway of an eastern study that overlooked the woods.
Cosmo's hand was in mine, his smile still loose and cheeks flushed from the attention we'd served him this morning. Mine probably were too for that matter, and I'd decided I could dress as I usually did around the palace—corsetless and in a dress that offered easier access for my Chosen.
Grandmother seemed to freeze for a moment, looking me over again more thoroughly, her eyebrows raising and shoulders softening slowly.
"You look…well. Is this average infatuation or…"
"Or the Hunger?" I asked, helping myself to a seat on the couch, Cosmo making us a plate from the foods laid out over the table for my grandmother. It was a little bit of a dull palette for my usual breakfast, but we'd left our own breakfast with Wen and Thao in the bedroom.
"Would you be disappointed if I said it was both?" I asked as Cosmo moved to sit next to me, feeding me a slice of toast with jam.
"Not if that was the truth," Grandmother answered.
Her hawkish stare didn't have the same effect as it once had, still piercing but not injuring me like only a couple months ago.
"I've grown fond of my Chosen since I met them, and with that grew the Hunger," I said, and Cosmo's arm stretched across my shoulders.
"Fond? Bryony, the Hunger is more than fondness," Grandmother scoffed. "That's not how we work."
"No, but it's how I work," I said, glaring back at her. "Believe me, it surprised me too. But this is not just infatuation."
"I am glad if you're enjoying yourself here on your little sojourn in the north, playing at commanding our council—"
I sat forward, fingers digging into the cushions beneath me."What do you want, Grandmother? Me to prove it to you?"
"Of course I do, you silly girl! This is the fate of our kingdom we are discussing," Grandmother answered a laugh. "I see Camellia's faults, don't think I don't. But if she has the power, then she can rule."
"Rule? Like Mother does?! From inside her bedroom? You won't live forever, Grandmother, and I've seen Mother leave her chambers three times in the past year. Who is ruling this kingdom?"
"Bryony!"
I gasped, and my eyes dropped to my lap, discovering my hands clenched to fists in my lap, only then feeling the bite of my nails in my own flesh. My face was hot, and my pulse was loud in my own ears.
"Show her," Cosmo whispered gently, his palm spread over my spine. "It's all right."
"Perhaps the young man might leave so we may speak privately, granddaughter," my grandmother said in a low warning tone.
I glanced up into Cosmo's gentle stare, his brow tangled with concern, lips still swollen from my kisses. I snatched the plate from his hand and smashed it down against the floor, my grandmother gasping as it cracked and shattered between our feet. Cosmo only smiled and fell into me as I grasped at his collar, pulling him in for a deep, demanding kiss, drinking him down in great gulps as my grandmother snarled my name across the table from us. Cosmo moaned and melted into me, his arms wrapping around my waist, pressing me to the arm of the couch we were seated on, ready to drag me under him.